EU tomato production expected to reduce in 2018

Overall tomato production within the European Union is expected to decrease this year due to significant reductions in outdoor production of processing crops in Spain.

The latest EU figures show that production last year was some 3 per cent higher (at a total of 18.5 million tonnes) than in 2016, again driven by an increase in processing crop production as fresh crop output actually fell by 2 per cent.

The forecast production of Iberian crops is expected to be 22 per cent lower this season, with some 3,000 less hectares planted in Extramadura alone – largely due to the wet weather and thunder storms seen in April and May. Trade body TomatoEurope expects the overall production of process types of tomatoes to be some 12 per cent lower than last year, although the output from Portugal and Italy is expected to be in line with previous years.

It is also important to note that these forecasts were made before the recent very hot weather, and does not account for any effect on final yields which may result.